Manuel Piñero

Manuel Piñero Sánchez (born 1 September 1952) is a Spanish professional golfer.

Manuel Piñero
Personal information
Full nameManuel Piñero Sánchez
Born (1952-09-01) 1 September 1952
Badajoz, Spain
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight151 lb (68 kg; 10.8 st)
Nationality Spain
ResidenceMálaga, Spain
Career
Turned professional1968
Current tour(s)European Seniors Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins12
Number of wins by tour
European Tour9
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1978
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 1986
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT6: 1981

Piñero was born in Badajoz. He turned professional in 1968 and established himself on the European Tour in the early 1970s. He won nine titles on the Tour, the most prestigious of them the 1977 British PGA Championship. He featured in the top ten on the European Tour Order of Merit five times, including back to back fourth places in 1976 and 1977.

Piñero was with Bing Crosby when he died. On 14 October 1977, Piñero teamed up with Crosby in a recreational match against fellow Spanish pro Valentín Barrios and his amateur partner Cesar de Zulueta, owner of Moraleja Golf Course, where the match was played. Shortly after the match ended Crosby had a heart attack at the edge of the clubhouse and died instantaneously.[1]

Piñero played for Europe in two Ryder Cups. In 1981 he defeated Jerry Pate 2 & 1 in his singles match. In 1985 he claimed four points out of five for the team which captured the trophy from the United States for the first time since 1957, defeating Lanny Wadkins 3 & 1 in singles. He was also a member of Spain's two man team at the World Cup of Golf nine times, collecting the team title in 1976 and 1982. On the latter occasion he also won the individual title.

Since turning fifty in 2002 Piñero has played on the European Seniors Tour, but he has had little success at that level.

Professional wins (12)

European Tour wins (9)
Legend
Penfold PGA Championships (1)
Other European Tour (8)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 27 Apr 1974 Madrid Open −5 (73-71-69-70=283) Playoff Valentín Barrios
2 25 Jul 1976 Swiss Open −6 (69-70-67-68=274) 3 strokes Dave Hill
3 28 May 1977 Penfold PGA Championship +3 (73-70-74-66=283) 3 strokes Peter Oosterhuis
4 12 Jul 1980 Mazda Cars English Classic −2 (69-69-72-76=286) 1 stroke Sandy Lyle
5 26 Apr 1981 Madrid Open (2) −9 (70-68-69-72=279) 5 strokes Des Smyth
6 30 Aug 1981 Swiss Open (2) −11 (69-73-69-66=277) Playoff Antonio Garrido, Tony Johnstone
7 5 Sep 1982 European Open Championship −14 (68-68-67-63=266) 2 strokes Sam Torrance
8 28 Apr 1985 Cepsa Madrid Open (3) −10 (67-71-67-73=278) Playoff José María Cañizares
9 5 May 1985 Italian Open −21 (69-66-66-66=267) 1 stroke Sam Torrance

European Tour playoff record (3–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1974 Madrid Open Valentín Barrios Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1981 Swiss Open Antonio Garrido, Tony Johnstone Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1985 Cepsa Madrid Open José María Cañizares Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Other wins (3)
  • 1972 Spanish PGA Championship
  • 1973 Spanish PGA Championship
  • 1982 World Cup (individual title)

Results in major championships
Tournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Masters Tournament CUT
The Open Championship T36 CUT CUT T58 T6 T51 T45 T36 T25 T19 CUT 65 CUT T51
PGA Championship CUT

Note: Piñero never played in the U.S. Open.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1978 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

References
  1. Van Beek, Greg (2001). "Bing Crosby - The Final Round". lakeprovidencegirl.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
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